Ayaka Furue 古江 彩佳 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||||
Born | Kobe, Kansai, Japan | 27 May 2000||||
Height | 153 cm (5 ft 0 in) | ||||
Sporting nationality | Japan | ||||
Career | |||||
Turned professional | 2019 | ||||
Current tour(s) | LPGA of Japan Tour LPGA Tour | ||||
Professional wins | 10 | ||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||
LPGA Tour | 2 | ||||
Ladies European Tour | 2 | ||||
LPGA of Japan Tour | 8 | ||||
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1) | |||||
Chevron Championship | T44: 2022 | ||||
Women's PGA C'ship | T8: 2023 | ||||
U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2023, 2024 | ||||
Women's British Open | T20: 2021 | ||||
Evian Championship | Won: 2024 | ||||
Achievements and awards | |||||
|
Ayaka Furue (古江 彩佳, Furue Ayaka) (born 27 May 2000) is a Japanese professional golfer. After playing on the LPGA of Japan Tour where she has eight wins, she currently plays on the LPGA Tour. [1] She won her first LPGA Tour championship on 31 July 2022, at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open. She won her first major at the 2024 Evian Championship. [2]
Furue was born in Kobe and started playing golf at the age of 3, coached by her father. She has also been a swimmer since the age of four in parallel with golf. [3]
Furue won the Kansai Elementary School Golf Championship in 2012, and the Kansai Junior High School Golf Championship in 2014 and 2015, and while attending Kobe Municipal Nagata Junior High School she won the National Junior High School Golf Championship in 2015 and the Kansai High School Golf Championship in 2016. She participated in the 2016 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship where she made the cut and finished tied for 28th place. [1]
She played for the Japan National Team in 2017 and 2018. She won the 2018 Junior Golf World Cup with the team and finished 4th individually. She was also 4th individually at the 2018 Asian Games, where the Japan team finished 5th.
Furue won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies on the LPGA of Japan Tour as an amateur, thus was awarded exemption of the JLPGA Player Certification Test, and turned professional shortly afterwards. [1]
Furue recorded three victories and two runner-up finishes on the LPGA of Japan Tour in 2020. She shot up to No. 42 in the Women's World Golf Rankings to secure a spot at the 2020 U.S. Women's Open, where she did not make the cut. [4]
In 2021, she won a further three tournaments and rose to No. 14 in the world rankings. She was in contention at the 2021 Evian Championship where she birdied three of the last four holes to claim fourth ahead of Atthaya Thitikul. [5]
At the 2021 Women's British Open, Furue started the final round four shots behind co-leaders Anna Nordqvist and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, but lost ground on the leaders and ended tied for 20th as she carded a level-par round of 72 that featured an eagle, two birdies and four bogeys. [6]
Furue earned her card for the 2022 LPGA Tour through qualifying school. [7]
She won her first LPGA Tour tournament, at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open on 31 July 2022, shooting a course record 10-under-par 62 (267, −21) in the final round to win by three strokes over Céline Boutier, after trailing by four strokes after 54 holes to co-leaders Boutier and Lydia Ko. [8]
In 2024, Furue won her first major at the Evian Championship. She scored an eagle on the final hole to win by one stroke over Stephanie Kyriacou. [2]
Legend |
---|
Major championships (1) |
Other LPGA Tour (1) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Winner's share ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 31 Jul 2022 | Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open [1] | 69-68-68-62=267 | −21 | 3 strokes | Céline Boutier | 300,000 |
2 | 14 Jul 2024 | Amundi Evian Championship [1] | 65-65-70-65=265 | −19 | 1 stroke | Stephanie Kyriacou | 1,200,000 |
1 Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 Oct 2019 | Fujitsu Ladies a | 67-65-67=199 | −17 | 2 strokes | Mone Inami Kana Mikashima |
2 | 20 Sep 2020 | Descente Ladies Tokai Classic | 66-67-68=201 | −15 | Playoff | Hiroko Azuma |
3 | 15 Nov 2020 | Ito En Ladies Golf Tournament | 69-65-70=204 | −12 | Playoff | Miki Sakai |
4 | 22 Nov 2020 | Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open | 65-71-64-69=269 | −15 | 3 strokes | Lee Min-young |
5 | 17 Oct 2021 | Fujitsu Ladies | 65-67=132 | −12 | Playoff | Minami Katsu |
6 | 24 Oct 2021 | Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies | 69-71-67-69=276 | −12 | 1 stroke | Mao Saigo |
7 | 7 Nov 2021 | Toto Japan Classic | 68-67-68-69=272 | −16 | 3 strokes | Mone Inami |
8 | 16 Oct 2022 | Fujitsu Ladies | 66-65-69=200 | −16 | 1 stroke | Akie Iwai |
a Ayaka won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies as an amateur.
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Evian Championship | 1 stroke deficit | −19 (65-65-70-65=265) | 1 stroke | Stephanie Kyriacou |
Results not in chronological order.
Tournament | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chevron Championship | T44 | T52 | T50 | ||
U.S. Women's Open | CUT | CUT | T6 | T6 | |
Women's PGA Championship | CUT | T8 | T19 | ||
The Evian Championship | NT | 4 | T19 | T36 | 1 |
Women's British Open | T20 | CUT | T21 | T37 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied
Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chevron Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
The Evian Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 14 |
Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made* | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CUT | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
2021 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
2022 | 27 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 957,831 | 29 | 70.34 | 21 |
2023 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1,637,334 | 13 | 70.30 | 16 |
2024 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 2,811,824 | 6 | 69.99 | 3 |
Totals^ | 75 (2022) | 69 (2022) | 2 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 1 | 5,406,989 | 83 |
^ official as of 2024 season [10] [11] [12]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
Year | Ranking | Source |
---|---|---|
2016 | 768 | [13] |
2017 | 600 | [14] |
2018 | 413 | [15] |
2019 | 82 | [16] |
2020 | 16 | [17] |
2021 | 14 | [18] |
2022 | 22 | [19] |
2023 | 24 | [20] |
Amateur
Source: [9]
Professional
Ai Miyazato is a former Japanese professional golfer who competed on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA). She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings on three occasions in 2010.
Angela Gwen Stanford is an American professional golfer who currently competes on the LPGA Tour.
Brittany Lang is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She has won one major championship, the 2016 U.S. Women's Open.
Anna Maria Nordqvist is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She has won three major championships: the 2009 LPGA Championship, the 2017 Evian Championship, and the 2021 Women's British Open. She is the only non-American woman to have won major championships in three different decades.
Azahara Muñoz Guijarro is a Spanish professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour.
Brooke Mackenzie Henderson is a Canadian professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.
Harukyo Nomura is a Japanese female professional golfer.
The 2018 Evian Championship was played 13–16 September at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 25th Evian Championship, and the sixth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. The event was televised by Golf Channel and NBC Sports in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
Atthaya Thitikul, also Jeeno Thitikul, is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Until 2023, she was the youngest golfer ever to win a professional golf tournament at aged 14 years, 4 months and 19 days after winning the Ladies European Thailand Championship as an amateur on 9 July 2017. She was the number one ranked women's amateur golfer in the world for a total of 12 weeks, rising to the top on two occasions, the first time on 26 June 2019.
Céline Boutier is a French professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. She has multiple wins on both tours including one major, the 2023 Evian Championship.
The 2020 U.S. Women's Open was the 75th U.S. Women's Open, played December 10–14 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, having been postponed from its original date of June 4–7, 2020, on April 3, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was played on both the Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit courses.
Stephanie Kyriacou is an Australian professional golfer and LPGA Tour player. She won the 2020 Australian Ladies Classic – Bonville by eight strokes as an amateur and joined the Ladies European Tour on a two-year winner's exemption. In 2024, she was runner-up at The Evian Championship.
The 2021 Amundi Evian Championship was played 22–25 July at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 27th Evian Championship, and the eighth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour.
Kristen Gillman is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. As an amateur, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur twice, in 2014 and 2018.
The 2022 Chevron Championship was the 51st Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament, held March 31 through April 3 at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course of Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. The tournament was in its first year with Chevron Corporation as the title sponsor and its 40th as a major championship. The Golf Channel televised the event for the 12th consecutive year.
The 2022 U.S. Women's Open Presented by ProMedica was the 77th U.S. Women's Open, held June 2 to June 5 at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Minjee Lee won the second of her two major titles, four strokes ahead of runner-up Mina Harigae. Ingrid Lindblad finished leading amateur at tied 11th. She beat the amateur scoring records over 18, 36 and 54 holes and tied the 72-hole amateur record in the tournament.
The 2022 AIG Women's Open was played from 4 to 7 August in Scotland at Muirfield. It was the 46th Women's British Open, the 22nd as a major championship on the LPGA Tour, and the third championship held under a sponsorship agreement with AIG. It was the first Women's British Open to be hosted at Muirfield.
The 2022 Evian Championship was played 21–24 July at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 28th Evian Championship, and the ninth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. The event was televised by Golf Channel in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
The 2023 Evian Championship was played 27–30 July at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 29th Evian Championship, and the tenth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. The event was televised by Golf Channel in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
The 2024 Evian Championship was played 11–14 July in France. It was the 30th Evian Championship, and the 11th as a major championship on the LPGA Tour.